Hey folks! I have a question about what happens to my old CloudFront domain names after I delete a distribution. I've got a CloudFront distribution with a default domain, like `d111111abcdef8.cloudfront.net`. If I completely delete that distribution, can anyone else create a new CloudFront distribution and take over that exact domain name? I want to ensure that I'm not leaving any security risks when getting rid of these old distributions. I've got around 10 inactive distributions that I've been hesitant to delete because of this concern. Thanks for your insights!
5 Answers
No worries! CloudFront domain names are randomly generated, so while there’s a tiny chance of someone getting the same domain later, AWS generally prevents this from happening. You should be safe deleting your distributions.
Just a heads up, if you’ve created a CNAME record pointing to your CloudFront distribution URL, make sure to delete that as well. Otherwise, someone could take advantage of it if they somehow got a hold of the same CloudFront URL. Clean up those DNS records and you’ll be all set!
They’re unique and won’t be reused. This applies to instance IDs, account numbers, and other identifiers as well. You can go ahead and delete those old distributions.
There’s a lot of differing opinions on this, but the consensus seems to be that CloudFront domains are uniquely tied to your AWS account and won’t be recycled. If this is crucial for you, reaching out to AWS support for a definitive answer would be wise.
Yep! It’s better to be safe, especially if it’s something that could affect your project.
They're random, so there's a slight chance, but it's really unlikely. If the domain names are critical, it’s safer to register a custom domain and create aliases pointing to your CloudFront distribution. That way, you retain control over your branding and domains even if things change under the hood.
Totally agree. Get the info straight from AWS support. The likelihood of the same domain being reused is super low, but confirming with them would give you peace of mind.